Braves sign 9-time All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel to minor-league deal
FILE - Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Craig Kimbrel delivers during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)
ATLANTA (AP) — Nine-time All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel is attempting to revive his career with the Atlanta Braves, his original team.
Kimbrel and catcher James McCann have agreed to minor league contracts, the team confirmed on Wednesday. Kimbrel will remain at the Braves spring training site when the season opens March 27, then will report to Triple-A Gwinnett.
Kimbrel, a 36-year-old right-hander, was released by the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 24 with a 5.33 ERA and six blown saves in 29 chances. The right-hander has pitched in 837 games and his 440 saves rank fifth.
Advertisement
The Braves are set to open the season with 35-year-old right-hander Raisel Iglesias as their closer. Iglesias had 34 saves in 38 chances with a 1.95 ERA last season.
Kimbrel was drafted by the Braves in 2008 and made his major league debut in 2010. He led the National League in saves in four consecutive seasons, beginning with his 46 in 2011 when he was voted Rookie of the Year and capping that stretch with 47 in 2014. He set a career high with 50 saves in 2013.
Kimbrel also has pitched for San Diego, Boston, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia, where he made his last NL All-Star team in 2023.
The Braves also confirmed a minor league contract with McCann, a 34-year-old who hit .234 with eight homers for the Orioles last year in the final season of a $40.6 million, four-year contract he signed with the New York Mets.
Advertisement
McCann was a 2019 AL All-Star with the Chicago White Sox. He made his major league debut with Detroit in 2014. He has a .241 career batting average in 11 seasons, including the 2021-22 seasons with the Mets.
The Braves released 38-year-old left-hander Jake Diekman, who had a 4.91 ERA over 7 1/3 innings in seven spring training appearances. Diekman, who had a 5.63 ERA with the Mets in 2024, was competing for a bullpen spot.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
4 minutes ago
- Forbes
The Braves Gave Up A 10-4 Lead In The Ninth, Is This Rock Bottom?
When the ninth inning of Thursday's game in Atlanta began, the Braves, holding a 10-4 lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks, had a 99.77% chance to win. If you had logged on to FanDuel before the first pitch of the ninth, you would have had to have wagered nearly $44,000 to win $1 betting on the Braves. Scott Blewett then struck out Eugenio Suárez leading off the frame. At that moment, the Braves' chances of winning the game went up to 99.96%. So, you are saying there is a chance. The above wager then increased to nearly $227,000. The next batter, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., homered on a 1-0 pitch, making the score 10-5. No matter, the chances still sat at 99.94%. Tim Tawa then walked and advanced to second on defensive indifference. Alex Thomas then laced a homer to right, making the score 10-7. Now things were getting interesting. And yet, even with the fans at Truist Park beginning to hold their collective breath, Atlanta still had better than a 99% chance to win. The next batter, Jose Herrera, walked, and that was that for Blewett (who hadn't quite yet). Corbin Carroll greeted the new pitcher, Raisel Iglesias, with a double, bringing the tying run to the plate. Reminder, there is still only one out. Shockingly, even with all of this activity, the Braves still win this game nearly 93 times out of 100. Ketel Marte followed Carroll's double with an infield single, scoring one run, and putting the tying runs on base. For consistency, at this moment, the win percentage was down to 85.2%. Geraldo Perdomo, having a great season, slashing .275/.373/.422, with 2.1 bWAR about a third of the way through the year, and 1-for-4 on the day with a double and an RBI, popped out to short for the second out. This unproductive at-bat felt like an omen…so close, but just not going to happen. When that second out was recorded, Atlanta moved back above 93% in their chances of winning this game. Just a week after sprinting out of the dugout and colliding with his teammate rounding third to potentially score the winning run in a Triple-A game in Reno, Nevada, Ildemaro Vargas found himself in the batter's box representing the lead run in a wild game. On an 0-1 pitch, Vargas softly lined his first hit of the season into center field, scoring Carroll to make it a one-run game. And yet, Atlanta still had better an almost 87% chance to win. Eugenio Suárez, who you will recall led off this frame with a strike out, stepped to the plate. The tying run was in scoring position, and the lead run, Vargas – no one's great base runner – on first. When the count ran to 2-and-2, the Braves had better than a 9-in-10 chance to win. That dropped to 86.4% when the count went full, as the runners (especially the not-fleet-of-foot Vargas at first) would be running on the pitch. Suárez swung at what appeared to be ball four, an 89 MPH changeup on the inner half, but too close to take. He lined it down the left field line, allowing both runners to score, giving the Diamondbacks an 11-10 lead. Eugenio Suarez may have swung at ball four. -DFF After a walk to Gurriel Jr., Tawa lined out to end the carnage. The Braves got the tying run aboard in the bottom of the ninth (a Matt Olson walk), but the game ended when Marcell Ozuna grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. The Braves had been on a 766-game winning streak in games that they led by at least six runs going into the ninth inning. The Diamondbacks, in their franchise's history, had never won a game in which they trailed by six runs or more going into the ninth inning (0-419). That all changed Thursday after at Truist Park. Atlanta started the season losing their first six games. They have battled to get back into contention, getting over .500 (24-23) about two weeks ago. Since then, they are 3-11, including Thursday's ignominious defeat. There is still a lot of baseball to be played, and the Braves cannot play a lot worse than they have at various times this season. The Phillies have faltered. The Mets are not a juggernaut. Atlanta can still make the playoffs. In the aftermath of their loss to Arizona, former Brave (and potential future Hall of Famer) Craig Kimbrell was called up from Triple-A to (hopefully) improve the bullpen, which currently has a 3.90 ERA and has converted only 10 of 21 save opportunities. After Thursday's game, Hall of Famer and Brave broadcaster said, 'If you were looking for rock bottom, this might be it.' Well, if so, there is nowhere else to go but up.
Yahoo
5 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Elite DB Brody Jennings on Miami official: 'I had the time of my life'
Jacksonville (Fla.) Mandarin High School athlete Brody Jennings spent last weekend at Miami for his official visit under tragic circumstances. His father, Bradley, passed away just before the trip was to begin for the family. The group would follow through and see Coral Gables once more as the Hurricane staff worked to make the weekend as uplifting as possible. Advertisement "My dad passed a few days ago, so I couldn't really think," Jennings told local media. "I came on the visit and had the time of my life. I came here to have fun. It was about football, but more about family and football at the same time. He (Mario Cristobal) is not just a football guy, he's a family guy -- all the coaches are family guys. Father figures. "My dad wanted me to be strong. He liked Miami a lot. He liked the school a lot and I like it a lot. We wanted to still see everything." Jennings has considerable connections to the area and Miami program itself, with two siblings attending UM, including his sister currently on the track team. The bigger picture with the people and the place all came together for a memorable time on campus. Advertisement "It's been great," he said. "I don't know if any other schools are topping this official visit. Not even in just seeing everything, but the coaches. Coach Cristobal is a great coach. Coach (Will) Harris ad Coach (Zac) Etheridge -- great coaches, and the whole staff was great. "I've been here multiple times to see what the program is about is something serious. It's like that for real. It's a great program to play in with great people to be around. My family is from Miami. They've been down before and they enjoyed the visit, too. They enjoy the school and they're Miami Hurricanes fans already, so it would be great playing around the hometown of my parents." CLASS OF 2026 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State CLASS OF 2027 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State TRANSFER PORTAL: Full coverage | Player ranking | Team ranking | Transfer search | Transfer Tracker RIVALS CAMP SERIES: Rivals Five-Star heading back to Indy | Rivals Five-Star roster | Schedule/info Jennings has of course been committed to play at Michigan for nearly one year. He remains on board with the Big Ten power, but all involved know this recruitment has more layers to be determined. Advertisement "It's gonna come down to the wire," he said. "That's not gonna stop Miami from recruiting me. Miami is coming really hard, Michigan is still coming hard. Miami wants me really bad. "Miami is a great school. Academics, private school. I could be successful with the school and life after football. There is a lot to offer." Florida is set to host Jennings this weekend. Georgia and Michigan get the next two weekends of official visits later this month. The four-star recruit says Sherrone Moore and company are keeping an open mind as visits continue to go down. "They know great players will visit other schools," Jennings said. "They know how hard I worked to get here, so they support me even though other schools will be on me." Marcus Benjamin contributed to this report.
San Francisco Chronicle
17 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Why Thunder vs. Pacers gives NBA a Finals matchup to embrace and enjoy
My thoughts as the NBA Finals play on? First, this is the series we needed to see. It's a look into the NBA's immediate future, one the Golden State Warriors will find difficult to negotiate, and Bay Area fans can only hope it prompts some major changes. The league's high-scoring hierarchy is moving on past Stephen Curry, in a manner dramatically exemplified by Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton, each a prime-of-life superstar with a ton of presence. Not that they'll ever be Curry, as a shooter or an influence, but they represent a dynamically youthful revolution in the backcourt, and the signs are just as ominous in the Finals frontcourt with the Thunder's Chet Holmgren and Indiana's Myles Turner, hardly an upstart but still shy of his 30th birthday. • What the Warriors are likely to encounter in trade talks: Jonathan Kuminga looms as a hidden gem, no guarantee to be a master of court vision but spectacular in the transition game. And that's it for high value outside the Big Three of Steph, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler. The rest of the rotation players are strictly average by NBA standards. They fit into the league, they have their moments, and once again Warriors have a knack at bringing in character people. But on the scale of talent and track record: nothing special. Even the endearing Brandin Podziemski would be viewed by contending teams as a high-energy reserve. • As a bonanza for small-market teams, these Finals are hardly welcomed by the TV networks, merchandise outlets, ticket-revenue proprietors or sponsors. But as a fan, that's not your problem. Absolutely, Curry's Warriors against the Knicks — Games 1 and 2 at Madison Square Garden — would be sensational theater. But in terms of big names and traditional settings, what are we really missing? Once you grew tired of the aging LeBron James and the ceaselessly complaining Luka Doncic, the Lakers were no fun at all. Minnesota's Anthony Edwards found himself stepping aside once again. Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo appear immersed in wanderlust. • Above all, share the Celtics' hurt over Jayson Tatum's Achilles tear, perhaps costing him all of next season. That was an absolutely brutal development, one we've shared locally with Klay Thompson. But the Celtics had been exposed as a lazy, tedious outfit long before Tatum went down. Running an offense that basically came down to five guys whipping passes around the perimeter — hey, one of these 3-point marksmen has to be open — they won a championship bearing no resemblance to the Celtics' finest traditions. This is the franchise that changed things: Bill Russell revolutionizing defense, Bob Cousy inventing the fancy fastbreak, Red Auerbach fielding the first all-Black starting five, John Havlicek setting the all-time standard for moving without the ball (like a blur, even if he was out there 48 minutes), and 3-point shooting rendered secondary by the 1985-86 frontcourt genius of Larry Bird, Bill Walton, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. The modern Celtics haven't changed a thing, unless it's your viewing habits. After their Game 1 loss to the Knicks in the second round, Boston Globe columnist Gary Washburn claimed they were 'guilty of obscene arrogance, truly believing it's impossible to lose with their relentless long-range style.' It only got worse in Game 2, when the Celtics didn't take 45 shots from 3-point range, they missed 45, and their fourth-quarter disgrace — heaving 19 of their 20 shots from distance — was 'one of the stupidest damn stats I ever heard,' Charles Barkley said on TNT. 'Nobody's that dumb.' • Nobody in the WNBA, that's for sure. What a haven for the fundamentals — and once you get past such obvious favorites as Caitlin Clark, Sabrina Ionescu, Paige Bueckers, A'ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray, you start discovering Natasha Cloud, Allisha Gray, Gabby Williams, Brittney Sykes, Leonie Fiebich, Sonia Citron — we could easily offer 20 more names. That's what I love about the women's game: You never know what's going to happen next. With the Celtics, easy answer: a 3-point shot. And then a thousand more. • It's not such a crime that the Warriors passed on Haliburton in the 2020 Draft, because eight other teams followed suit as the evening progressed. The disgrace falls on the Sacramento Kings, who once had Haliburton and De'Aaron Fox in their backcourt and let both of them depart. No, their numbers playing together weren't great, but with that kind of talent, show some patience. • First thought on the Knicks' head coaching search: Jay Wright, a pillar of wisdom at Villanova and a chance to reunite with Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart. Second thought: Becky Hammon. It's well past time for a woman to take an NBA head job, and the Las Vegas Aces' coach — who spent eight years as an assistant to Gregg Popovich in San Antonio — couldn't be more ready. Then again: Forget both names. I wouldn't wish incompetent bully James Dolan, the Knicks' owner, on either one of them. • When you know Boston is a great sports town: As Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy took note of Brunson missing what looked to be an easy layup at the worst possible time, 'It was a Frank Selvy moment that would have defeated a lot of teams.' That's it. No explanation. Just 63 short years ago. • Caitlin Clark is brash and defiant, a window into her greatness as she fends off intense defensive scrutiny and every other obstacle in life. But she has to lay off the refs before she becomes the WNBA's version of the whining, petulant Doncic. Some words of advice from one of her biggest fans and a legend in women's soccer: 'You don't want to become the girl, the team, the coach who cries wolf all the time,' Megan Rapinoe said on Sue Bird's 'A Touch More' podcast. 'It's just constant, and to what end? Sometimes you just have to play through it and earn a little bit more respect. If you're constantly asking for fouls all the time, it's just annoying and I feel you get less fouls.' • Final note: Congratulations to former Sporting Green writer Mark Fainaru-Wada, who recently returned from his alma mater, Northwestern, where he was inducted into the Hall of Achievement at the Medill School of Journalism, one of the most distinguished in the country. A Bay Area sportswriter all the way, from his days at the Marin Independent Journal and the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, he moved on to the San Francisco Examiner in 1997 and the Chronicle in 2000 before joining ESPN in 2007. Among his many achievements in investigative reporting: collaborating with the Chronicle's Lance Williams on 'Game of Shadows' (probing the BALCO steroids scandal) and with his brother, Steve, on 'League of Denial,' about the NFL's concussion issues.
